Student’s art work selected

A student is making his mark on the world of art and design by transferring his skills on canvas to the world of automotive aesthetics.

Former Northallerton School and Sixth Form student Oli Nixon has been selected to exhibit his work at two prestigious venues in London.

Now studying a degree in design at Sheffield Hallam University, he also secured work experience with the prestigious car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover and was given the chance to work on the full-size clay model of the iconic new Range Rover scheduled for 2020.

For the third time in succession, the artwork of a former Northallerton School student has been selected by the Royal Society of British Artists to be exhibited in the Mall Galleries in London as well as, for the first time, Lloyds Register.

Oli, a self-portrait in acrylic painted when he was studying at Northallerton School and Sixth Form College was chosen to be among 36 artworks in the exhibition.

In total, 348 artworks from 89 schools were submitted for consideration from 55 branches of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies.

They will be exhibited at the Lloyds Register from February 12 until March 10 before being transferred to the Mall Galleries, where they will be on show from March 17 to April 2.

For the Danby Wiske 19-year-old the prestigious opportunity will further boost his portfolio and help him achieve his dream of design luxury cars.

“For me, art is now a hobby but it is amazing just how much it is helping me on my design course and giving me an advantage over everyone else,” he said.

“I would love to design cars and really enjoyed working with Jaguar Land Rover where I was able to shape the 2020 Range Rover, which has already reached the full scale clay model stage.

“It is a very competitive industry to break into so winning this art honour will certainly help my portfolio and CV.”

The painting was selected by NADFAS Hambleton branch member Debbie Burrows. She said: “It was the clarity of the portrait that attracted me and the way he used different colours to build up the skin and hair tones, giving it tremendous depth.

“I had never met Oli before but as soon as he walked in the room I recognised him from his portrait.”

Head of art at Northallerton School and Sixth Form Jean Lake said: “I feel very proud of the fact that we have had students’ work chosen three years running. Oli was a pleasure to teach and it was so nice seeing him develop his skills from pencil work to such expressive portraiture.”